Richard Evans, veteran journalist, joins International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2024

When the history of tennis is told, when the time comes to sort through the wheat and the chaff, the matches and the politics, the struggles that happened inside the lines and those that took place everywhere else, an ambitious researcher will be grateful for the body of work left by Richard Evans.

At the age of 85, Evans continues to be in thick of a sport he’s covered for well over 60 years. His journey began at Wimbledon, when in 1960 he was assigned the task of collaborating with former world No. 1 Althea Gibson for a British newspaper, The Evening Standard. From there, Evans didn’t merely trot into tennis—he sprinted, commencing a relentless pace that has taken him to more than 200 Grand Slam tournament and countless other events. There will likely never be a journalist who is front and center at the sport’s showcases than Richard.

As his career blossomed, Evans proved adept at a story that was vital in the pre-Internet days of the 1960s and ‘70s: the tournament wrap-up. Representative Evans prose appeared in the November 1973 issue of what was then the sport’s leading media outlet, World Tennis.

Opening his account of that year’s US Open, Evans wrote,

“Veteran [John] Newcombe watchers got the first hint of it in the fourth round when he crunched his way past Andrew Pattison, the steadily improving Rhodesian who had sent Ilie Nastase packing in the first big upset of the tournament.”

There followed a fluid, round-by-round dissection, Evans touching on the routine, digging into the significant.

There will likely never be a journalist who is front and center at the sport’s showcases than Richard.

But Evans was not strictly an observer of match play. He was highly attuned to all the political tumult that was affecting tennis in the early 1970s (and continues to this day). Examining efforts to start a players association in the July 1972 edition of World Tennis, Evans wrote,

“The players have quit mumbling about what might be and have started to act. Despite what the cynics may have to say about it, there will be a Players Association in the very near future.”

Evans was spot on: the ATP was formed during that year’s US Open.

Evans’ immersion into tennis occurred during an era when journalists and players were much closer to one another. He spent extensive time with all the greats, including Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. He also become close friends with such movers and shakers as World Tennis founder-publisher-editor and Virginia Slims tour creator Gladys Heldman; Tennis Week founder-publisher Gene Scott; Jack Kramer, the ATP’s first executive director; and the sport’s first agent, Donald Dell.  Everyone from players to leaders valued Evans’ insights.

Such affinity made Evans a natural choice to be the ATP’s first director of public relations. Offered the job at the 1973 US Open, Evans soon became the ATP’s European director, for three years playing a major role in upgrading how many of those events were run. Soon after, he was elected to the ATP board, a spot he held from 1977-’79. Around that time, Evans returned to journalism.

The number of stories Evans has written number in the thousands. He has also worked as a commentator such outlets as the BBC, and authored more than 20 books. Several are epic histories, from the Davis Cup to the overall history of the game, to a nuanced look at the first two decades of Open tennis. There are deep dives into two controversial stars, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase. Others are collaborations, Evans partnering with the likes of Marty Riessen, Allen Fox, Bill Norris—and his fellow Class of ‘24 inductee, Vijay Amritraj—to bring their stories to life.

In addition to tennis, Evans covered a great many political events, including the Vietnam War, and Senator Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

Speaking about his passion for journalism, Evans said earlier this year in an International Tennis Hall of Fame interview,

I think all journalists, we want to tell people things they don’t know. That’s our job. That’s what we do. Richard Evans

Raised in Britain, Evans was born in Paris just prior to World War II. In his 2017 memoir, The Roving Eye, Evans with his customary vigor tells the tale of how his family escaped from France just as the Nazis were about to conclude their invasion.

On a personal note, it’s been a touchstone to become a colleague and friend of Richard’s. In my teens, I lived and breathed for the chance to read about tennis. Alongside TENNIS.com colleague Peter Bodo and Hall of Famer Steve Flink, Richard was part of a journalistic “Big Three” that I consistently found informative and inspiring. What a life in tennis he has led.

As Richard likes to say, well done.